Why Nathan Buckley remains unlikely to return to an AFL coaching job anytime soon

Nathan Buckley has again answered questions relating to a possible return to coaching at AFL level.

The former Collingwood superstar and coach has been linked to the job with the Tasmanian franchise and has also been named in the same circles as Port Adelaide.

The departure of Adam Simpson at West Coast has also added fuel to the fire with Buckley’s name immediately popping up on the rumour mill.

Kane Cornes asked Buckley if his attitude towards a potential return to coaching has changed recently.

“In short, no,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“I’ve got no doubt I could do the job well, I’ve held that opinion since I’ve been out (in 2021).”

Cornes then asked: “Do you think you could do the job better?”

Buckley, who is enjoying media roles with SEN and Fox Footy, replied: “Absolutely, yeah. You do everything better with the experience.”

Before highlighting the treatment of coaches and the pressure that comes with a senior coaching job as key aspects as to why he is hesitant.

“The other thing that I am noting and observing is a reinforcement of how senior coaches are treated or mistreated on this side (the media),” he continued.

“There’s a lot of crap. No (it’s not worse) but it’s just as bad. The emotion on this side of it, the competition for opinions on this side of the ledger is not a surprise but it’s shocking.

“I’m sure Chris Fagan was somewhat aware of it, Luke Beveridge was, Matthew Nicks and Ken Hinkley in two-team towns, Justin Longmuir early in the season was copping it.

“I suppose you might witness it more when you’re in the position that we’re in where your perspective is 360 and you’re seeing it all. It doesn’t altogether paint a pretty picture of going into that space. You have to go through all that crap to get in there and then if you get in there you’re fine, but you know you’re going to have all that crap on the other side as well.

“I don’t know if I need that in my life, to be honest.”

Buckley, 51, admits the talk linking him to clubs is premature and at this point in time he does not possess the fire in the belly to return to the coaching caper.

“It’s just scuttlebutt, it’s innuendo, it’s grist for the mill, it’s everything the media loves,” he said further.

“It goes nowhere, it does nothing, other than run a cycle on a headline.

“The way for it to occur is for me to actually sit down and decide that there is a fire burning that needs to be quenched. Right now, I can’t say that there is.

“That’s not to say that there won’t be something that changes that and flicks the switch. Right now it’s where it’s always been in the last couple of years and I’m enjoying this time on the outside of footy, on the fringes, enjoying my time in the media.”